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White House "highly skeptical" Syrian rebels used chemical weapons

May 6 - The White House says it is ''highly skeptical'' of suggestions that Syrian rebels used chemical weapons. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

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Amateur video which could not be independently verified by Reuters show anguish on the streets of Damascus.
Violence rages on the ground while the debate continues over whether chemical weapons have been used in Syria.
A U.N. investigator has said that rebel forces have used the nerve agent, sarin.
White House spokesman Jay Carney has his doubts.
SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN JAY CARNEY SAYING:
"The fact that we are highly skeptical of any suggestions or accusations that the opposition used chemical weapons. We find it highly likely that chemical weapons, if they were in fact used in Syria - and there is certainly evidence that they were - that the Assad regime was responsible."
Carney's comments come after reports that Israel attacked Iranian-supplied missiles stored near the Syrian capital of Damascus Friday and Sunday.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN JAY CARNEY SAYING:
"It is certainly within their right to take action to protect themselves and to prevent that kind of weaponry from getting into the hands of terrorists like Hezbollah."
As the Israeli military is carrying out an exercise in the Golan Heights, a senior Israeli lawmaker says Israel does not want to clash with President Bashar al-Assad.
Israel is reluctant to take sides in Syria's civil war for fear its actions would boost Islamists who are even more hostile to it than the Assad family.

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